Escape
by AishiteSubete
Summary: The only place Korra can find solace is in Tahno. Tahorra, Masami.
1. Escape

Title: Escape  
Author: AishiteSubete  
Rating: T  
Summary: _The only place Korra can find solace is in Tahno. Tahorra, Masami.  
_**WARNINGS: Smoking. References to sex. Mako-bashing. Episode 7 spoilers.**

~[]~

Korra had never pegged Tahno as a smoker. "It's a dirty habit," he remarked with a wry grin before wrapping those lips around a cigarette. "Don't try it, Avatar." She wouldn't have wanted to in the first place, watching the smoke radiate from the tip and circle around the ex-waterbender; he puffed it from his mouth in thin, wispy rings. Tahno had reclined on the couch in his lavishly rich apartment, propping his feet up on the arm, while Korra sat on a chaise lounge across from him.

"You look remarkably sexy, lying there like that," Tahno purred, extinguishing the cancer stick on an ashtray beside him. Remarks like that would have made Korra feel exposed, perhaps even a little uncomfortable, but from Tahno she took it unfazed. She didn't feel vulnerable under his stare, not like she did with Mako and Bolin these days. "Kind of like some deadly cat. It suits you."

Ever since Mako, Bolin, and Asami moved to Air Temple Island, Korra only spent enough time there to train and sleep, if she even hung around for that long. Her three friends had more than monopolized the island, and Korra felt uncomfortable around them. She had no problems with Asami-none at all. To keep the record straight, she considered Asami to be one of her closest friends, even more so than Mako and Bolin.

_The Fabulous Bending Brothers_. She was in Tahno's apartment, and he was making those eyes at her. Normally, she would never dream of thinking about the firebender and earthbender she left back at the island, but tonight was different. She had _heard_ Mako and Asami that afternoon, when the airbending family was out in Republic City and Bolin went to meet with some old friends. Korra herself was supposed to be meeting with Tarrlok and the task force, but he cancelled the meeting shortly after she arrived in the city.

When Korra made it back to the island, she was greeted with the lascivious sounds of sex from Mako's room.

"What's wrong, honey?" Tahno drawled, sitting upright and giving Korra a concerned look. "Something on your mind?" She nodded, and he patted the seat beside her. "Come talk to me then." Korra shuffled over to him, dropping herself beside him, not reeling back when he put both of his arms around her, encouraging her to lay her head on his chest. "Now, what's wrong?" He kissed her hair.

"I heard Mako and Asami today," the Avatar mumbled quietly, ignoring the tears that pinpricked at the corners of her eyes. "Whatever was left of my heart was broken then."

Tahno stroked her cheek, taking the time to feel her soft skin under his fingers. "Mako's a jerk," he stated smoothly, letting that same hand run down to caress her arm. Korra instinctively leaned into the touches. "I mean, think about it. He never apologized after being such an ass to you about the _Hiroshi-Sato-is-an-Equalist_ thing. He's an arrogant prick to think that you would throw around Equalist accusations because you were jealous."

Korra chuckled, smiling inwardly as Tahno leaned down to kiss her cheek, his lips traveling downward to claim her own. It was things like that that kept Korra coming back to his apartment almost every night-the romance, the conversation, and _trust_ she had with him in comparison to what she had with Mako and Bolin. Tahno had offered her a room once before and asked her if she needed to stay, but she had politely declined the offer; she was reconsidering. When the two of them broke apart for air, Korra gently smiled and whispered, "Tahno, thank you."

"For?"

"For being here for me when no one else really was," she muttered. "I never would have thought we would be this close."

Tahno only smiled warmly, moving to kiss her again. "The offer to live here still stands; I could always use a flatmate...or a bedmate." He added the last part with a lusty wink, and Korra could only laugh.

"I think I'm going to start reconsidering it now."

Tahno chuckled. "Go for it."


	2. Somebody That I Used To Know

Title: Somebody That I Used To Know  
Author: AishiteSubete  
Rating: T  
Summary: _Having the fabulous bending brothers and the beautiful Asami Sato at Air Temple Island wasn't one of the best ideas she's ever had. Tahorra.  
_**Warnings: Smoking. Songfic alert! (to "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye~) Language. Sex references. **

[SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW]

_Now and then I think of when we were together,  
Told myself that you were right for me,  
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember.  
But I'll admit that I was glad that it was over._

Korra had packed her bags the night before, taking only the things she could put in a suitcase and duffle bag before hopping on the ferry to the mainland. It was Mako who had caused her to take on the invitation to live elsewhere. The avatar bit her lip when she remembered how the argument began-with him approaching her about the time she spent with Tahno.

"So Korra, where do you go when you're not here?" He had interrupted her meditation in the island gazebo, and she turned to look at him in annoyance; it didn't bother him. "Do you spend time with Lin, or are you doing task force stuff with Tarrlok?" She frowned, refusing to answer. Why would he care what she did with her free time? "You always come back smelling like cigarette smoke. I doubt Tarrlok and Lin smoke, and I'm sure that Tenzin wouldn't approve of your new _friend_ if he found out that habit of theirs." Korra's scowl deepened, and she felt her eyebrow twitch. "Who is it?"

"Tahno," she spat quickly, willing herself to remain relaxed and calm. It was one of the things Tenzin had been teaching her recently-to be calm and nonchalant under provocation.

Mako gave a bark of sarcastic laughter. "The fallen probending star? Don't tell me you're hanging out with someone like him! Korra, he's a douchebag!"

"And how would you know?" she questioned casually, her eyes still shut in concentration. The firebender was starting to hit a nerve. "It's not like you've ever spent time with him, or have really tried to get to know him."

The firebender scoffed. "It's not like I need to. He cheated against us in the pro-bending finals, and he could have really hurt us both. He kind of deserved to have his bending taken."

Korra jumped up, feeling the words hit her heart like a sledgehammer. She had seen what the loss of his bending had made Tahno-she knew that losing her bending was her biggest fear. "How could you say that?" Korra faced him, her eyes a mixture of surprise and hurt. "How could you say that anyone deserved to lose their bending?"

"He was a cheater and a jerk, especially to us," Mako remarked, giving Korra a steely gaze. "Why would you stand up for someone like that?"

"No, Mako," Korra shouted, pushing Mako aside so she could leave the gazebo. As she descended the stairs and stepped on the pathway, she turned to him and said, "The only cheater and the only jerk I see here is you."

_Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over,  
Part of me believing it was always something that I'd done,  
But I don't wanna live that way  
Reading into every word you say  
And I'll admit that I was glad that it was over  
And I don't even need your love._

Tahno welcomed her into his home with open arms, happily guiding her to the room that he had cleared out just for her, almost as though he was expecting her arrival. "I had nothing else better to do with the room," he explained nonchalantly, "I might as well save it for you on the chance you needed it." The avatar smiled in appreciation and placed her things there, unpacking her pelts first and spreading them over the bed before placing her clothes in a chest of drawers.

"It'll feel like home soon," she explained with a smile as she walked out into the open space of the living room. "It already feels more homey than Air Temple Island."

"How did Tenzin feel about you leaving?" Tahno asked as he poured two glasses of wine into nice glasses.

Korra only shrugged as she stretched out on the same chaise lounge she enjoyed sitting on. She yawned. "He took it as well as I would expect. He wasn't happy, but he realized he couldn't change his mind. He's not going to kick Mako and Bolin and Asami out though, not when Equalists are combing the streets to find out where they went."

"Is it even safe for you to be here?"

"I'm with you. I feel safer here than I did there." Tahno couldn't help but smile. He had never assumed he could make someone as powerful as the avatar feel safe, especially when he had lost his bending. He handed her the wine and watched intently as she drank down a long sip, savoring its taste. He wondered how someone as incredible as her wound up living with somebody like him, even after how he had acted to her at the onset.

He took a drink too as he reclined on the couch. "So what brings you here? Mako problems?"

She nodded, downing the remainder of her drink. "He thinks that he has the right to know everything that I do with my time, and thinks he should be able to like, police who I spend time with." Korra paused. "He doesn't like you very much,"

Tahno smiled wryly, the rim of his glass touching his lips. "I could have told you that, darling."

"He said you deserved to have your bending taken because you cheated in the pro-bending match."

The ex-waterbender's face became grim suddenly, and it was almost as if the bags Korra had seen under his eyes only weeks before had returned in full force. He looked solemn, drained; it wasn't a look she liked to see on him. "You left because of that? Why my dear, I'm flattered."

"It was the straw that broke the camel's back," she admitted. "I couldn't listen to him call you a cheater and a douchebag when he clearly couldn't see how he's been treating me. I don't care if he's confused about his feelings. It doesn't give him an excuse to be such an ass."

Tahno smiled. "It really doesn't, sweetheart. But at least I can thank him for bringing you to me." He lit up a cigarette, placing it gently between pale lips. Korra watched as he took that first drag, transfixed by the way his lips wrapped around the rolled paper. He laughed. "See something you like, _uh-_vatar?"

Korra only smirked, standing from the lounge and moving to the couch to straddle Tahno's waist. The cigarette was rudely snatched from his hands and thrown into the ashtray before her hands bared down on his chest and her lips melted against his; he breathed smoke into her mouth and she couldn't hold back a shudder that ripped through her body at the sensation. His hands slid down her back, tracing the lines of her curves, settling in the dip of her lower back, drawing lazy circles there. Korra allowed her fingers to stroke at the buttons on Tahno's jacket, only hinting at what she wanted instead of outright stating it. Tahno was no fool and picked up on her idea. He sat up mid-kiss, devouring her lips, and broke apart only to suggest they take their activities to the bedoom-a suggestion which Korra had no problems with.

~[]~

Korra commuted every day by ferry to Air Temple Island, exchanging warm hugs and conversations between Bolin and Asami before she went to train with Tenzin, Jinora, and Ikki. Not a word was spoken between her and Mako, and a couple of sparing, curt nods were the only signs that she and the firebender weren't complete strangers after all.

_Now you're just somebody that I used to know._

~[]~

**A/N: My fail argument scenes are fail but I'm okay with that. Q.Q**


End file.
